System and method for the automated notification of compatibility between real-time network participants

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a method and system for using predetermined preferences/characteristics to ascertain personal compatibility between network or chat room participants based upon profile information. When the system determines that these preferences are favorable for interpersonal compatibility, the system will automatically notify or page the participants so as to facilitate their introduction. Further functionality, aside from the compatibility based upon profile information, includes e-mail and other electronic notification of personal compatibility as well as geographic compatibility.

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority fromco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/560,108 for “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR THE AUTOMATED NOTIFICATION OF COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN REAL-TIMENETWORK PARTICIPANTS” by Benjamin D. Baker filed Dec. 4, 2014, which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/854,983 (U.S. Pat.No. 8,930,406) for “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATED NOTIFICATION OFCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN REAL-TIME NETWORK PARTICIPANTS” by Benjamin D.Baker filed Apr. 2, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/018,344 (U.S. Pat. No. 8,417,729) for “SYSTEMAND METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATED NOTIFICATION OF COMPATIBILITY BETWEENREAL-TIME NETWORK PARTICIPANTS” by Benjamin D. Baker filed Jan. 31,2011, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/021,374 (U.S. Pat. No. 7,885,977) for a “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THEAUTOMATED NOTIFICATION OF COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN REAL-TIME NETWORKPARTICIPANTS,” by Benjamin D. Baker, filed Jan. 29, 2008, which is acontinuation of, and claims priority from, U.S. patent application Ser.No. No09/793,364, (U.S. Pat. No. 7,401,098) for a “SYSTEM AND METHOD FORTHE AUTOMATED NOTIFICATION OF COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN REAL-TIME NETWORKPARTICIPANTS,” by Benjamin D. Baker, filed Feb. 26, 2001, and furtherclaims priority from Provisional Application No. 60/185,858, filed Feb.29, 2000 for an “INTELLIGENCE DRIVEN PAGING PROCESS USED IN AN INTERNETCHATROOM,” by Benjamin D. Baker, all of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety for their teachings, including all computerprogram listing appendices.

This invention relates generally to a network-based chat room system,and more particularly to an intelligent system and method for “paging” achat room participant based upon information relating to thatparticipant's characteristics.

COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX

A computer program listing Appendix is hereby incorporated-by-reference.The Appendix includes 86 files concurrently filed herewith as follows:

Name Size Created Application13_java 1,028 05-09-00 3:32 pApplication13_jav 709 05-09-00 2:33 p Ben_html 547 06-10-00 11:52 abrowserusers_pkb 6,143 06-26-00 10:25 a browserusers_pkh 1,830 06-22-0010:03 a browseusers_html 760 06-10-00 7:16 p BrowseUsers_java 8,97306-16-00 7:50 a BrowseUsers_shtml 0 06-10-00 7:23 p matchusers2_pkb 76405-27-00 9:46 p matchusers2_pkh 304 05-27-00 10:15 p createpeople_pkb22,938 06-13-00 3:37 p createpeople_pkh 135 06-10-00 7:27 pcreatetables_sql 6,581 02-05-01 4:22 p Duplicates_sql 1,541 05-29-008:03 a DUPTABLE_SQL 95 02-02-01 3:49 p EasyChat_jpr 1,982 06-14-00 4:10p EasyChatApplet_html 1,822 06-10-00 10:47 a EasyChatApplet_java 15,56106-13-00 7:56 a EasyChatServlet_jav 11,688 06-13-00 7:55 a GETBIRTH_SQL448 07-10-00 8:21 a getchinese_sql 453 07-10-00 8:11 a GETCOLOR_SQL 44207-13-00 9:13 a getmalfem_sql 1,845 07-13-00 9:14 a GETMILES_SQL 72307-09-00 11:24 a GETMOON_SQL 2,656 06-19-00 12:25 p getmoonsign_pkb 94002-06-01 12:33 p getmoonsign_pkh 210 02-06-01 12:29 p getmoonsign_sql1,009 02-06-01 11:52 a GETPATH_SQL 428 01-08-01 5:30 p getpoints_sql8,574 06-02-00 10:31 a getsigncode_pkb 1,449 02-07-01 10:05 agetsigncode_pkh 275 02-07-01 9:49 a getSUN_sql 413 07-12-00 8:19 agetsunsign_pkb 810 02-06-01 4:24 p getsunsign_pkh 219 02-06-01 4:26 pgetsunsign_sql 783 02-06-01 10:07 a loadchina_sql 1,840 06-19-00 7:11 aloadfname_ctl 181 05-28-00 3:20 p loadfname_log 1,549 05-28-00 3:22 ploadlname_ctl 123 05-28-00 3:23 p loadlname_log 1,466 05-28-00 3:23 pLoadlogic_txt 276 07-09-00 2:08 p LOADSIGN_CTL 687 05-22-00 11:09 aloadsign_ctl_doc 5,120 05-14-00 1:17 p LOADSIGN_LOG 4,020 05-15-00 7:05p loadsigntables_pkb 1,809 05-06-00 4:12 p loadsigntables_pkh 18905-06-00 4:12 p loadsigntables_sql 142 05-06-00 11:00 a LOGIC_PRN 1,45107-09-00 2:08 p matchdaters_txt 6,412 06-01-00 5:03 p MatchMachine_jws6,205 06-22-00 11:01 a MatchUsers_java 5,423 07-10-00 8:26 aMatchUsers_jpr 2,346 06-26-00 9:36 a matchusers_pkb 9,763 02-06-01 3:49p matchusers_pkh 3,596 07-10-00 8:13 a MatchUsers_jav 5,147 06-19-009:40 a NAMES_TXT 2,414 05-28-00 4:51 p pathnumber_sql 2,146 01-08-013:52 p pathnumbex_sql 2,805 01-08-01 4:37 p Querries_jws 2,469 05-25-002:06 p queryusers_html 757 06-10-00 9:32 a QueryUsers_java 3,56706-10-00 9:40 a queryusers_htm 757 05-25-00 3:28 p QueryUsers_jav 3,56505-28-00 11:31 a RajChat_html 498 07-20-00 9:14 a RajChat_java 15,97807-20-00 10:17 a RajChat_jav 14,704 07-19-00 8:55 p REGISTER_JPR 2,08605-15-00 12:31 p Registration_java 3,621 05-15-00 11:46 a Servlet1_html760 05-17-00 12:12 p Servlet14_java 2,279 05-10-00 3:18 p Servlet14_jav2,166 05-10-00 2:20 p SETPATH_SQL 254 01-08-01 5:24 p SimpleQuery_java2,701 05-12-00 12:03 p SimpleQuery_jpr 2,164 05-12-00 12:42 psimplesearch_html 483 06-10-00 9:21 a SimpleSearch_java 2,700 06-10-009:21 a SimpleSearch_jpr 2,277 06-14-00 4:11 p SimpleSearch_shtml 39806-10-00 8:42 a simplesearch_htm 481 06-10-00 9:02 a sqlldr_txt_txt 14905-22-00 4:15 p TESTDIS_PKB 203 06-23-00 10:16 a TESTDIS_PKH 1,68106-23-00 11:06 a testrandom_sql 1,646 05-25-00 6:12 a UPDZIP_SQL 1,63506-22-00 11:04 a

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to computer Chat Room systems orsimilar network-based systems providing services to network users,specifically, the automated process of paging a chatter or other networkparticipant. In one embodiment the paging may result in a display ofinformation related to one or more chatters within a Chat Room system.In a related embodiment, the paging may be an audio, visual or similarsensory cue which may or may not be associated with a visual displayrelated to the other chatter.

Heretofore, a number of patents and publications have disclosedcomputer-based Chat Room systems, the relevant portions of which may bebriefly summarized as follows:

U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,916 to Busey et al. for a “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORREAL TIME COMMUNICATION OVER A COMPUTER NETWORK,” issued Jun. 9, 1998 isan exemplary representation of a Chat Room.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,839 to Moncreiff for a “COMPUTER NETWORK CHAT ROOMBASED ON CHANNEL BROADCASTS IN REAL TIME,” issued in Oct. 27, 1998 isdirected to one or more Chat Rooms with the conversation being relatedto TV/Radio broadcasts of the chatters' preferences. The spirits ofthese inventions best capture the essence of the present-day Chat Roomsystem; people conversing via a computer network designed to accommodatechatters with themed Chat Rooms for the purpose of initiating a commonconversation. Traditionally, those chatting have had to type theconversation, however, Voice and Video communication technology is beingintroduced through Internet Portals using data compression methodssimilar to those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,927 to Gillon et al.,issued Nov. 17, 1998 for a “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING ACONTINUOUS, INDISTINCT DATA STREAM.”

WO 98/16045 to Goldfinger et al., PCT Publication of 16 Apr. 1998 for a“COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM,” hereby incorporated by reference for itsteachings, is directed to a communication network wherein users of thenetwork can list “sought” users and the sought users are identified tothe “seeking” user whenever they are “on-line.” The list of sought usersmust, however, have been predefined by the seeking user. The publicationfurther describes in detail, aspects of such a system, wherein theuser's are tracked or identified by an identifier or identificationcode, and the identifier is associated with the user's network addressof the user's communication terminal.

Furthermore, various well-known Internet Portals (IPs) such asYahoo.com, Excite.com, AOL.com have Chat Rooms systems withfunctionality beyond simple conversation (communication via typing on akeyboard or via voice chat). For example, these Internet portals employChat Rooms systems that provide additional functionality such as:

-   -   1. Search Engine—Many Chat Room systems provide search engines        that enable a user to search for other chatters by inputting        previously known chat name(s) and being presented with a list of        where the desired chatter(s) are “chatting.” The user normally        has previously encountered and conversed with the other        chatter(s) and is simply looking for a chatters' chat name        within the search engine archives to see if that person is        currently logged into the Chat Room system. This information is        valuable to a user, because it shows whether the other        chatter(s) is available to chat in real-time. Usually, this        functionality accompanies a display, providing a link that takes        the user from the search engine interface screen directly to a        Chat Room in the system. This is a completely proactive approach        of finding friends.    -   2. Paging System—Several chat systems allow a chatter to keep a        list of “friends” within the Chat Room system memory. When a        chatter is logged into the Chat Room system, the Chat Room        software will prompt or page the user upon detecting that one or        more friends are logged in the chat system. A display of the        chat name within the user's current Chat Room will appear        notifying the user that the friend is logged into the system.    -   3. Profile—Many chat Room systems use a database to provide or        display a list of characteristics of one chatter to another        chatter. The characteristics, (the data) are provided to the        Chat Room system by the chatters themselves. Commonly, chatters        are given a set of questions to answer when first registering or        logging into a Chat Room system. The answers to these questions        are intended for display to other chatters. Criteria such as        personal interests, hobbies, geographic location, age group,        astrological information and sexual preferences are stored in a        database and may subsequently be compiled into a list, which is        revealed graphically, to other chatters in a visual display        window should the other chatters choose to look at such a        profile. The profile is commonly accessed by chatters using a        computer mouse that enables the chatter to click a button and        bring up another chatter's profile, where the button typically        launches a new and separate display to the chatter revealing the        profile.    -   4. Navigation within a Chat Room System—A chatter attends and        moves to new Chat Rooms by clicking on a link that conveys to        the computer Chat Room software (such as IRCD “Internet Relay        Chat Daemon”) that the chatter wishes to move to the Room that        Corresponds to the link. Within the Chat Room system, there are        a multiple of rooms. Each room has a theme or topic for        discussion. For example, there are rooms that have a politics        theme. A chatter would click the appropriate link for the        politics room in order to chat with others about politics.    -   Most Chat Room systems have functionality that allows a maximum        number of chatters to chat in one room. For instance, the        functionality may only allow up to twenty-five chatters to chat        in one room at a time. This is a necessary limitation, as too        much activity in a room may hinder the ability to comprehend or        create fluidity in a conversation. Hypothetically, the theme of        this room could be Politics. With this model, the Chat Room        system software will automatically create a new room of the same        theme (Politics) once the room reaches its limitation of 25        chatters within a room. This new room will accommodate any new        chatters who wish to be in the Politics Room.    -   Perhaps more important is the fact that when a new chatroom is        created, a user who enters later may not know that other        chatters he/she is accustomed to seeing are already        participating in a filled chat room. The current invention        eliminates such problems by showing (or paging) a user with        characteristics of another person who may be in the same chat        system, but in another room.    -   For example, if there were 300,000 chatters that Yahoo has at        any one time in the same room, there wouldn't be a need for        paging, because one could see all of the characteristics that        are shown in the room (Assuming that one has a visual display        devise that will show all 300,000 chatters' names at once.) The        limitation of the number of users in any particular chat room        emphasize the advantages of a profile display or paging system        as described herein.

Ultimately, the Chat Room systems are very similar. There are multiplerooms; each room has a theme, or topic to induce a common conversation.Each chatter has a fictitious name and a means of finding other chattersvia a search engine. And lastly, they have a paging system that willdisplay information to a chatter if a friend(s) should log into the ChatSystem during the time that the chatter is logged into the systemhimself. These Chat Room systems' style of communication is effectivefor initiating or guiding a common conversation. They are designed tounite chatters with the intent of creating conversation subject matterthrough themed rooms, such as politics, for the sake of a commonconversation. It will be appreciated that the paging of “friends,” asprovided by one aspect of the present invention, may not be importantfor inducing a conversation based on a themed room. However, the purposeof identifying the common paging process is that the pager in any otherchat room is completely pro-active. Thus, a “friends” paging system onlypages those who already know each other and functions only when the userenables or programs it to do so.

The aforementioned Chat Room functionality does not provide a way ofintroducing, prompting or paging unknown or non-“friends” chatters basedupon either personality traits (including, for example, astrologicalsign) and/or geographic location. This functionality, however, iscrucial for establishing lasting interpersonal relationships that extendbeyond a Chat Room experience. Unfortunately, well-known Chat Roomsystems are not designed to unite chatters for the sake of creating newand meaningful interpersonal relationship with another chatter.

It is common knowledge, in the psychiatric community, that interpersonalrelationships are most successful when the people involved have much incommon. Examples of commonality include chatters having similarinterests, such as a leisure time activity, or commonality of the areain which they live. Living within the same area or city accommodates amore likely chance that chatters will establish more involvedrelationships outside of the Chat Room system. However, there is nopaging (or introduction) system that will alert a user should anotherunknown chatter, have favorable commonalities such as geographic areaand common psychological traits; thereby matching people from all overthe world that are logged into the Chat Room system.

Knowledge of being able to share in these common leisure timeactivities, with other chatters, and having commonalities inpsychological traits assures the chatters of a greater chance ofsuccessful relationship. On this point, existing Chat Room systems arebelieved to be inferior because they are unable to alert, page, orotherwise notify a user that there is another chatter(s) that meetsfavorable requirements for a successful interpersonal relationship.

The present invention is, therefore, directed to a new system designedto unite chatters for the purpose of creating new interpersonalrelationships. The system is referred to as an Intelligence DrivenPaging Process (IDPP). The IDPP is a process that augments and addsfunctionality to the profile functionality of known Chat Room systemsand provides a means for promoting or prompting communications betweentwo or more individuals. The current and common profiling system onlydisplays profile information to a user upon request, usually by clickinga link. Because the profile display process of conventional Chat Roomsystems is only initiated when a user requests the information, it canbe seen as reactive. Once the buttoned is clicked, the Chat Room systemlaunches a separate and new display for review, where the displaydepicts the profile information of only one chatter.

Conversely, one aspect of the IDPP is different in that it is proactiveand automated; instead of waiting for a chatter to click a button toreview a profile, the IDPP uses predetermined preferences to ascertainpersonal compatibility between chatters based upon profile informationfor each chatter logged into the Chat Room system. If the IDPP systemdetermines that these preferences are favorable for interpersonalcompatibility, the system will automatically notify or page the chattersto be introduced.

It will be further appreciated that a user may control the desirableprofile characteristics that will be used to select chatters for displayto the user. It will also be appreciated that the simple process ofdisplaying a table, or similar visual representation, of chatter profileinformation in association with an ongoing chat session may prove, inand of itself, a valuable feature.

This novel paging process is further intended to solve the problem ofovercrowded Chat Room systems. For example, large Internet Portals suchas America Online and Yahoo may have hundreds or thousands of chatterswithin the system at any given time. It is impossible for a user to viewevery profile of the other chatters (via a link to a profile display)who were logged into the Chat Room system at that given time; people login and out of the system randomly. Another aspect of the IDPP solvesthis problem due to its proactive, intelligence-driven paging process.More specifically, the IDPP may be employed to notify a user of otherchatters' characteristics without having to click on links to find otherchatters' profile information. The IDPP uses the profile information andpreset compatibility preferences of all chatters that are logged intothe Chat Room system in order to determine interpersonal compatibility.If the IDPP's system logic determines that two or more people arecompatible (using Compatibility Criteria), the profile information maybe automatically displayed. This saves chatters time by not requiringthem to click on the profiles of every chatter within the system todetermine the compatibility of said chatters.

The Compatibility Criteria used by the IDPP can be identified anddetermined by well-established psychological methods. The methods usedmay also be based upon identified commonality between chatters'personality traits and geographic location. Commonality includes that ofpsychological personality traits; such as the way chatters interactemotionally or the way chatters cognitively function. Any giveninformation will suffice, however.

As will be appreciated by those knowledgeable in the area of psychiatry,there are myriad of methods to identify cognitive and emotionalpersonality traits in order to create data for a Chat Room system todetermine which chatters should be introduced to other chatters. Thesetraits or data can be identified and saved into the Chat Room systemmemory. The data that is saved into the system memory can be used tocompare such data to the archived data of all other chatters within theChat Room system.

For example, the IDPP may use the results of standard industrypersonality typing tests such as the Myers, Briggs PersonalityAssessment Test or the Keirsey, Bates Temperament Sorter, anotherpersonality typing system, as used in Please Understand Me, Characterand Temperament Types, published in 1978 by David Keirsey and MarilynBates. Additionally, Astrology, a controversial science spanningthousands of years, can be used to identify and describe such traits.These are only two examples of ways to determine and identify data of achatter needed to compare with data of other chatters. Data required forcomparison may be as simple as marital status (e.g., single and divorcedchatters being identified as compatible), need for employment, religiouspreferences, or age.

As used herein, the processes are examples of ways that are intended toidentify facets of a chatter's personality. It does not matter whichsystem is used for identifying these facets, as the IDPP system willcompare any and all data contained in chatters' profiles in order topage and Introduce two or more of said chatters.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method forthe automated display of human participant-specific data to a humanparticipant of a network chat room, comprising the steps of: (a)collecting human participant customized data for a plurality of chatroom participants; (b) storing, in memory, the human participantcustomized data collected, (c) sorting said human participant customizeddata from a plurality of chat room participants by participant-specifiedpreferences; and (d) automatically displaying sorted human participantcustomized data to at least one participant in association with anetwork chat room.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for determining the compatibility of at least twoparticipants in a chat room, and for the automated paging of compatibleparticipants, comprising the steps of: (a) collecting human participantcustomized data for a plurality of chat room participants; (b) storing,in memory, the human participant customized data collected; (c) sortingsaid human participant customized data from a plurality of chat roomparticipants by participant-specified preferences; (d) automaticallycomputing the compatibility of at least two human participants, and (e)paging the participants to indicate their compatibility.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for automatically prompting compatible users in anetwork based upon a compatibility criteria, comprising the steps of:(a) collecting human participant customized data for a plurality ofnetwork users; (b) storing, in memory, the human participant customizeddata collected; (c) sorting said human participant customized data froma plurality of network users by participant-specified preferences; (d)automatically computing the compatibility of at least two network usersusing the predetermined criteria; and (e) paging the network users toindicate their compatibility.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a system for the automated display of humanparticipant-specific data to a human participant of a network chat room,comprising: a computer network for collecting human participantcustomized data for a plurality of chat room participants; a databasefor storing, in a memory, the human participant customized datacollected via the network; and a processor, associated with said networkand with access to said database, for sorting said human participantcustomized data from a plurality of chat room participants usingcompatibility criteria, and automatically displaying at least a portionof the sorted human participant customized data to at least oneparticipant in association with the network chat room.

The techniques described herein are advantageous because theysignificantly improve the functionality of traditional chat rooms, withlittle additional overhead. Moreover, the techniques provide to chatrooms, the opportunity to easily identify compatible chatters, avoidingthe tedious process of manually reviewing chatters' profiles. As aresult of the invention, it is believed that chat room and networkparticipant satisfaction will increase as will the usage of chat roomsand networks that employ aspects of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overview of a network system in which the present inventionfinds particular application;

FIGS. 2-3 are illustrative examples of user-interfaces in accordancewith aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary database structurefor an aspect of the invention of FIGS. 2-3;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flow charts depicting the steps associated withalternative embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary database structure inassociation with a network and user-interfaces depicting an embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the PDA of FIG. 7, illustrating anexemplary user-interface screen.

The present invention will be described in connection with a preferredembodiment, however, it will be understood that there is no intent tolimit the invention to the embodiment described. On the contrary, theintent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents asmay be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

For a general understanding of the present invention, reference is madeto the drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals have been usedthroughout to designate identical elements. In describing the presentinvention, the following term(s) have been used in the description.

A “Chat Room system” is one or more networked computers implementing aChat Room or multiple of chat rooms, and including various functionsimplemented therein such as search engines, memory archives containingchatters' profile information, voice and video transmission capability.Such system is at least, but not limited to the traditional chat room asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,916 to Busey and Weghort (1996) andU.S. Pat. No. 5,838,927 to Gillon and McFadden (1996), and the networkis understood to be a wired or wireless communication network.

A “chatter” or a “user” is a person participating or communicatingwithin a computer Chat Room system, whether the person is actively orpassively communicating.

“Voice chat” is chat communication via computer microphone and speakersusing a computerized communication system as the medium. It is typicallyan added function in well-known Chat Room systems. As used herein, a“user” is the chatter who initiates an action or is the original chatterreferred to in an explanation involving multiple chatters.

A “chat name” is generally a fictitious name chosen by a chatter to beused as guise in a Chat Room system.

A “ link” is an Internet Address connector or a pointer, typically in anHTML document, that leads to another World Wide Web site, or to anotherplace within the same document; also called a hyperlink. A link isactivated by clicking on it or otherwise indicating a selection by auser.

“Friend” is a person who has created a relationship with another person(chatter or other network user). Usually, Chat Room systems allow achatter to save another chatter's chat name in the Chat Room systemmemory. Once a chat name is saved into the Chat Room system memory, thesystem will display, to the user, whether or not the friend(s) arelogged into the Chat Room system.

“Introduce” means the action of paging a user and displaying a link forcertain chatter or chatters that will move these certain chatters into acommon Chat Room or enabling them to chat in a common medium within thesame Chat Room system. Introduce could also mean the display ofcharacteristics to the parties involved, without communication actuallybeing established, where the system could provide them a choice orprompt to engage.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is depicted an exemplary embodiment for thepresent invention. In particular, the Chat Room system 20 enables aplurality of users or chatters to access the system via the Internet 22or other wide-area network, or via local area network (LAN) connections24. Connected, via wired or wireless connections (e.g., cellular anddigital telephones), the chatters interact with the chat host system 30through web interface software (not shown) such as a web browser orother chat enabling software. Operation of the chat room is controlledby Chat Room system software that is preferably stored in the memory ofsystem disk drive 32. Also stored on drive 32 is at least one databasecontaining information pertaining to the profiles of chatters,information about the various chat rooms and the “threads” ofconversations occurring therein. Once the chat system is operational,users or chatters located at computer workstations 40 (having videodisplays, processors, keyboards, etc.) or wireless devices such ascellular phones or personal digital assistant (PDA) devices 42 may“connect” to a chat room and begin or participate in a conversation.

As is well-known, users of such chat rooms may also access profileinformation for other chatters by simply clicking a mouse orcursor-based pointing device on the chatters name. For example at chatrooms on http://chat.yahoo.com, clicking on a chatters chat name willproduce a window or dialog box that allows the user to see the chatter'sprofile, send a personal message to the chatter, etc. Similarly, one ormore chatters may be added to a user's “friends” list (associated withthe user's information in the database stored on disk 32). A user maythen check to see if friends are currently on-line or chatting in aparticular room. Similarly, the system might notify the user when afriend has logged on to participate in the chat. Such a system istaught, as noted above by WO 98/16045 to Goldfinger et al., PCTPublication of 16 Apr. 1998 for a “COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM,” and is herebyincorporated by reference for its teachings related to theimplementation of such a system. The list of sought users of friendsmust, however, be predefined by the seeking user.

Turning next to FIG. 2, depicted therein is a user-interface screen thatwill serve as an exemplary illustration of various aspects of thepresent invention. In particular, the figure depicts exemplary chatinterface screen 100 of a well-known chat interface such ashttp://chat.yahoo.com, modified to include features in accordance withthe intelligence driven paging process (IDPP) of the present invention.IDPP is a proactive and automated process for identifying “compatible”chatters; instead of waiting for a user to make a selection to request aprofile of another chatter, the IDPP uses predetermined preferences toascertain personal compatibility between chatters based upon profileinformation for each chatter logged into the Chat Room system.

For example, to the right of chat window 104, the other chatters in aroom are listed in a table or window region 110. Table 110 includes aleft-most column 118 that shows the chatters name, and one or morecolumns to the right thereof that depict personal profile informationthat each chatter has entered about themselves. For example, in thePolitics chat room of FIG. 2, the chatter profile information mightinclude age, gender, residence state, political party and intelligencequotient, as depicted by the five columns along the right side of table110. The remaining column in table 110 is an optional “points” columnthat provides a score for the compatibility between the chatter and theuser, as will be described in further detail below. Furthermore, whenthe IDPP system determines that the compatibility score is favorable forinterpersonal compatibility, the system may automatically notify or pagethe chatters to be introduced. Details of the comparison andcompatibility processing are found in the various matchusers.* files inthe Appendix. As will be appreciated, a chatter may or may not have theability to pre-approve his/her participation or use of the IDPPmatching, depending upon the system implemented.

Turning next to FIG. 3, there is shown another embodiment that willfurther illustrate aspects of the present invention. In particular, thefigure depicts an exemplary chat interface screen 100 produced by anapplication program such as an applet as detailed in the computerprograms listed in the Appendix, preferably running in association witha browser. The screen includes a chat window 104, a window 112 listingall chatters in the room, and a window 114 listing all “matching”chatters logged in to the system. As implemented in the embodiment ofFIG. 3, IDPP is a proactive and automated process for identifying“compatible” chatters as previously described.

In windows 112 and 114, the listings for each of the other chatters isreflected in a table format, where the table includes:

-   -   at column 1, the other chatter's chat name (118);    -   at column 2, the other chatter's point score (120);    -   at column 3, the other chatter's gender (122);    -   at column 4, the other chatter's age (124);    -   at column 5, an indication of the distance between the chatter        and the other chatter (in miles or by state, etc.) (126);    -   at column 6, the other chatter's astrology profile (128);    -   at column 7, the other chatter's personality color (130); and    -   at column 8, the other chatter's Life # indicating the        numerology life path number of the chatter, based on birth date        information and theories of Numerology provided by Pythagoras        (Greece 600BC) (132).

For example, in the chat room of FIG. 3, the IDPP system might indicatethat the two chatters in window 114 are compatible, thereby indicatingtheir names and data in the window. As a result of the compatibilitycomparison, the IDPP system determines that the compatibility score isfavorable for interpersonal compatibility, and automatically prompts orpages the current users by placing their names in window 114. It will befurther appreciated that window 114 may be updated automatically, ormanually in response to a user selection, in order to display stillfurther chatters that are determined by the IDPP system to becompatible.

This novel prompting or paging process is further intended to solve theproblem of overcrowded Chat Room systems. For example, large InternetPortals such as America Online and Yahoo may have hundreds or thousandsof chatters within the system at any given time. It is impossible for auser to view every profile of the other chatters (via a link to aprofile display) who were logged into the Chat Room system at that giventime; people log in and out of the system randomly. More specifically,the IDPP may be employed to notify a user of other chatters'characteristics without having to click on links to find other chatters'profile information. If the IDPP's system logic determines that two ormore people are compatible (using Compatibility Criteria), the profileinformation for the compatible chatter(s) may be automaticallydisplayed. This saves chatters time by not requiring them to click onthe profiles of every chatter within the system to determine thecompatibility of said chatters.

The Compatibility Criteria used by the IDPP can be identified anddetermined by well-established psychological methods. The methods usedmay also be based upon identified commonality between chatters'personality traits and geographic location. Commonality includes that ofpsychological personality traits; such as the way chatters interactemotionally or the way chatters cognitively function. Any giveninformation will suffice, however.

For example, compatibility may be determined from the answers that theuser gave on a test (online or not) that determines a psychologicalprofile such as the Myers Briggs Personality Test or the KeirseyTemperament Sorter. Such answers may show tendencies to voice emotionsmore or less than another person. As a further example, consider thepersonality traits of a first born child, which may providecompatibility for a youngest child in the sibling birth order becausethe first born since early childhood has grown in a “role” that providescertain emotional stabilities that the youngest child is used toreceiving.

Another example would be where, as a result of data derived from a test,a person is labeled as one who tends to voice her emotions whenever theyarise. She essentially wears her heart on her sleeve. Because of thistrait, she should be matched with another person that has traits thatallow him the patience to invariably listen to her at the pace in whichshe voices her emotions. They would be compatible because thecombination of their personalities allows for a greater amount ofself-expression than many other personality combinations would allow.

Although alternative methods and systems may be employed to implementthe IDPP system, one embodiment includes improved chat host systemsoftware that is modified so as to continuously or periodically run oneor more programs to (a) identify chatters and retrieve profile andcompatibility metrics from a database, and (b) run a program to“calculate” the compatibility of at least one chatter with anotherchatter and return a score representing the compatibility. It will beappreciated that in a preferred embodiment, the compatibilitycalculations will be run for a plurality of chatters, preferablyincluding all chatters that have opted to participate in the IDPPsystem.

In a particular alternative embodiment, one or more of the pieces ofuser profile data could be “set” or “selected” by a chatter asattributes that he/she might want to search for or use as an alternativeto, or in association with, the compatibility criteria so as to furtherlimit the chatters identified as compatible. In other words, using anexample from FIG. 3, described above, the user could limit the displayof compatible chatters to those who are male and over 25 years old(thereby only showing the JBarno4 entry in row 2 of window 114 andeliminating the row for CGrissom in the figure). Accordingly, thisalternative embodiment is believed to add value to a system implementingIDPP as it allows a chatter to search for particular characteristicshe/she may want.

As will be appreciated by those knowledgeable in the area of psychiatry,there are myriad of methods to identify cognitive and emotionalpersonality traits in order to create data for a Chat Room system todetermine which chatters should be introduced to other chatters. Thesetraits or data can be identified and saved into the Chat Room systemmemory. The data that is saved into the system memory can be used tocompare such data to the archived data of all other chatters within theChat Room system.

For example, the IDPP may use the results of standard industrypersonality typing tests such as the Myers, Briggs PersonalityAssessment Test or the Keirsey, Bates Temperament Sorter, anotherpersonality typing system, as used in “Please Understand Me, Characterand Temperament Types,” published in 1978 & 1984 by David Keirsey andMarilyn Bates, particularly pages 4-13, the relevant portions of whichare hereby incorporated by reference. Additionally, Astrology, acontroversial science spanning thousands of years, can be used toidentify and describe such traits. In the examples presented to thispoint, the threshold for compatibility has been a “match” (e.g., equalsor opposites). However, it will also be appreciated that in variousrankings, or combinations of compatibility criteria, a score or pointsystem may be used, where compatibility is determined based upon thedifference in points or score being within a predefined threshold. Theseare only two examples of ways to determine and identify data of achatter needed to compare with data of other chatters. Data required forcomparison may be as simple as marital status (e.g., single and divorcedchatters being identified as compatible), religious preferences, or age.

As used herein, the processes are examples of ways that are intended toidentify facets of a chatter's personality. It does not matter whichsystem is used for identifying these facets, as the IDPP system maycompare some or all data contained in chatters' profiles in order topage and introduce two or more of said chatters. For example, asdepicted in FIG. 4, the personality information associated with aplurality of chatters defined in the chatter list 150 on disk 32,contains pointers to records 154(a, b, etc.) that contain a chatter'sprofile information as well as his/her personality or compatibilityinformation. For example, within records 154, there may be fields suchas gender, age, location, astrological sign, personal color, politicalparty, marital status, sexual preference, on-line time, chat time, etc.,as depicted for example in FIG. 4.

Software or firmware that may be used to direct and store data withinthe database files on server host 30 (e.g., disk 32) may includedatabase software such as Microsoft SQL (database software) andMicrosoft Visual Basic (programming software). Other programs may beused to direct and store such personal data as described above. Theseother programs may be Oracle database software and C++, Java Applets,and similar software to direct the data to its intended locale. Theprotocol for the networked computers to communicate with each other maybe the industry standard IP (Internet Protocol). The networked computersmay also use TCP/IP, another industry standard for networkcommunications. Lastly, a chat room software such as iChat™ or IRCD (anindustry standard) may be required to create a chat room in which humanparticipants interact, and to which the various improvements andenhancements may be added.

Ultimately, the various components required to implement at least oneembodiment of the present invention include:

-   -   1. Computer (or server) that is connected to at least one other        computer via IP, TCP/IP or another computer network protocol.    -   2. A software database such as SQL or Oracle that is capable of        storing said human specific data.    -   3. Programming software that can work in conjunction with the        software database that is used to direct data for display to        human participants within the chat room network.    -   4. Chat room software that enables human participants to        communicate in real-time via the network protocol such as iChat™        or IRCD.

With respect to the collection of human participant defined, humanspecific data may, various means may be employed to accomplish the datacollection, including but not limited to:

-   -   Human participant entry of data directly into the database via        computer keyboard and a network interface (e.g., web-page or        specific knowledge that the participant may have acquired), and    -   Human specific data imported from, or exchanged with,        preexisting database records, such as physical address, e-mail        address, and ethnicity as a matter of public record, which may        be input into the database.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention contemplates the use ofe-mail to notify a chatter of other compatible chatters. As describedabove, the IDPP system is directed to an invitation to communicatebetween real-time chatters. The IDPP pages or otherwise notifies usersof compatible chatters (based upon profile information) within a chatroom. This alternative embodiment further extends that function withe-mail. Ultimately, users of a chat room system may be paged, notifyinga user that another person that he/she should be introduced to is eitherin the chat room, or is on-line and available to go to the chat room inorder to converse.

There are believed to be at least two scenarios where this process wouldwork:

Scenario 1. chatter #1 is in the chat room system and he provides to thechat room server information that he plans to be logged into the chatroom for a certain period of time. If there are other prior users of thechat room that should be notified that chatter #1 is available to chat(based upon their compatibility and indicated preference to benotified), but are not logged into the chat room system, then thosechatters may be sent an e-mail stating that chatter #1 is logged intothe system and that he will be there for the given period of time (chattime).

For example, as depicted in FIG. 5, after chatter #1 enters the chatroom (step 250), he indicates, in response to a system prompt, that hewill be in the chat system for one hour (step 254). If the IDPP wouldnormally match him with chatter #2 using the compatibilityidentification process (step 258), then if chatter #2 is not in the chatroom or logged onto the chat system, she receives an e-mail generated bythe chat system (step 262). Upon receipt of the e-mail (step 280),chatter #2 is notified that chatter #1 is available to chat for thespecified time if she wishes to engage. The e-mail will contain profileinformation of chatter #1 for her to make a decision. It is believedthat such an embodiment will eliminate the problem of people missing aconversation that should be had (something that the user wants—meetingpeople he wants to meet) when all parties are not logged into the chatroom system.

Scenario 2. In this scenario, depicted in FIG. 6, chatter #1 is on-linebut is not logged into the chat room system (step 200), but goes to thechat website and tells the chat room server that he will be online(online is equivalent to being in front of his computer, on theInternet, just not logged into the chat server) for a certain period oftime (step 204) after which he can leave the site. Similarly, chatter #2is on-line (step 210) and tells the chat room server that she will beonline for a certain period of time (step 214) before leaving the site.At step 220, the compatibility of the chatters is compared, includingcriteria for coinciding on-line time periods (on-line times). Ifcompatible, then the chat room system e-mails them both each other'sprofile info (step 224) and allows them to make an auto-responseselection showing whether or not they wish to chat with the otherperson, and at what time they will log into the system (whether it'simmediately or 5,10,15 minutes etc.) If they both confirm that they wantto chat, then the system may also e-mail them both a confirmation withthe time that they both agree to meet in the system. Here again, oncethe chatters log into the chat room system the normal functionality ofthe IDPP continues.

In a further alternative embodiment, chatters that should be introducedbased upon compatibility determined according to the IDPP systemdescribed above may be alerted to this fact via an e-mail generated bythe chat room system. More specifically, the chat room will allow thechatter to indicate one or more local establishments where the chatterwill be on a particular day or at a particular time (e.g., nightclub,restaurant, bar, coffee house, grocery store, etc.). In particular,there will be a place for chatters to indicate which establishments theywill go to in their city on a particular evening. If the two should meet(due to the natural functionality of the IDPP indicating compatibilityand a common establishment/time), the IDPP will e-mail both chatters(either a digital page to their phone or regular e-mail) letting themknow that the other will be there.

Yet another alternative embodiment is depicted in FIG. 7, where two ormore users having network connectivity (e.g., network-connected PDA's(42 a, 42 b), computers, pagers or cellular telephones) are identifiedas being compatible. In such a system, compatibility is not necessarilytied to personal characteristics as much as it is to relationships orlocation. For example, a group of two or more users having devices 42 aand 42 b may be identified as a “family” group and records 202 and 204,respectively indicating the members of the family group, may be includedin a database 200 as stored on disk 32 described above. Periodicallychecking the records, the IDPP system, based upon the positionalinformation provided by a global-positioning system (GPS) or similardevice such as cellular phone technology (triangulation), coulddetermine when family members were in proximity to one another, or at apre-designated location.

As a more specific example, consider a User A, having device 42 a, whois traveling on business and plans to stop by her parents home. Thelocation of User A is periodically or continuously monitored, and whenit is determined that A is at or near the parent's home, as indicated bycoordinates associated with the “Mom & Dad's House” record in databasetable 212, User B might be paged as he was trying to contact A when shearrived.

Alternatively, the positioning information may be used to evaluatecompatibility based not only on “family” membership, but also on theproximity of two or more family members. Using the “**nearby**” settingin the database (a programmable function that allows users to specifythe level of proximity (e.g., 100 feet, ¼ mile, same city, etc.)) thesystem would notify the members (User A and User B) when they werenearby. Here again, notification may be accomplished by a paging signal(pager), an automatic call (cell phone) or similar means (PDA &computers) for example as depicted in the interface of the PDA shown inFIG. 8. There, a hand-held phone (cellular, digital) 300 is depictedthat includes a touch keypad 304, selection/navigations keys 308, and adisplay 312, which may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) or similargraphic display device responsive to digital signals. As is well-known,such telephones include an antenna 316 as well as circuitry (not shown)to control both the operation of the phone and communication with acentral network through a communications channel. In the phone 300 ofFIG. 8, the display region 312 includes a visual representation ofanother chatter or “family member,” figure 320, textual description ofthe proximity of the other party in region 322 and optionally agraphical indication 324 of the direction of the other party (for phonesthat include GPS or similar functionality that could determine theorientation of the phone at any particular time). Aspects of such adevice are taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,959 to Norris,issued Sep. 14, 1999, and by U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,205 to Dufour, issuedMar. 18, 1997, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety for their teachings.

It will be further appreciated that a user may be a member of more thanone family, or that “families” have subsets or alternative familiarplaces that may be selected by one or more users. Also, two users may beconsidered to be members of a “family” based solely upon compatiblecharacteristics as previously described with respect to IDPP, eventhough the parties involved may not actually know one another. As aresult of an aspect of this invention, it is thus conceivable that afirst chatter in the bar may introduce himself to another person in thesame bar as a result of a prompt or page based upon information providedas part of a profile.

Moreover, the present invention contemplates the application of the IDPPtechnology to a cellular phone, PDA or other wireless communicationtechnology. Accordingly, this application does not necessarily have toinclude a chat room, but use of the IDPP capability may be provided toany network subscriber, where the application is geared towards thepaging process for direct communication (talking directly to a personafter the person is identified with the paging process).

In recapitulation, the present invention is a method and system forusing predetermined preferences/characteristics to ascertain personalcompatibility between chat room or other network participants. When thesystem determines that these preferences are favorable for interpersonalcompatibility, the system will automatically notify or page the chattersso as to facilitate their introduction, either on-line or personally.Further functionality, aside from the compatibility based upon profileinformation, includes e-mail and other electronic notification ofpersonal compatibility as well as geographic compatibility.

It is, therefore, apparent that there has been provided, in accordancewith the present invention, a method and apparatus for a network-basedchat room system, and more particularly to an intelligent system andmethod for “paging” a chat room participant based upon informationrelating to that participant's characteristics. While this invention hasbeen described in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof, it isevident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will beapparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fallwithin the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for determining compatibility ofparticipants of a real-time network with thousands of participants basedupon predetermined criteria, comprising: collecting humanparticipant-specific data for a plurality of the participants, saidhuman participant-specific data including employment and locationinformation; storing, in one or more databases, the humanparticipant-specific data collected; processing the stored humanparticipant specific data, using compatibility criteria, to determinecompatibility between at least two participants, wherein thecompatibility criteria includes employment and location information forat least one participant, and where compatible participants includethose participants determined as compatible for both employment criteriaand location criteria; and automatically prompting at least onecompatible participant to notify the at least one compatible participantof the compatibility.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein theemployment information includes a participant's need to be employed. 3.The method according to claim 2, wherein the employment informationincludes data indicating a need to employ.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein collecting human participant-specific data furtherincludes receiving positional information.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein positional information includes global-positioningsystem information associated with a human participant.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 4, wherein positional information includes cellularphone location information associated with a human participant.
 7. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the location information includes apre-designated location.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein thelocation information further includes a future time when a participantanticipates being at the pre-designated location.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 3, further including calculating a distance between aparticipant needing to employ and at least one participant needing to beemployed.
 10. The method according to claim 3, wherein the step ofprocessing to determine compatibility between at least two participantsfurther includes determining when a participant needing to employ and atleast one participant needing to be employed are within a level ofproximity and where the level of proximity is programmable.
 11. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the operation of processing thehuman participant-specific data results in a subset of records from thedatabase, the subset consisting essentially of compatible participants.12. A method for determining compatibility of participants of a networkwith thousands of participants based upon predetermined criteria,comprising: collecting human participant-specific data for a pluralityof the participants including future location information; storing, inmemory, the human participant-specific data collected; processing thestored human participant specific data, using compatibility criteriaincluding positional information to calculate geographic compatibilitybetween at least two participants at a particular time; automaticallydetermining the compatibility of at least two participants using thecalculated geographic compatibility, including periodically monitoringthe position of at least one of the participants to determine when atleast one participant is in proximity with another participant; andnotifying at least one of the compatible participants of theircompatibility, including sending at least one of the compatibleparticipants a message.
 13. The method according to claim 12, whereinperiodically monitoring the position of at least one of the participantsincludes obtaining a participant's location information from aglobal-positioning system.
 14. The method according to claim 12, whereinperiodically monitoring the position of at least one of the participantsincludes obtaining a participant's location information using a cellularphone location.
 15. The method according to claim 12, wherein at leastone participant is further determined to be a family member based solelyupon positional and time information.
 16. The method according to claim15, wherein at least one other family member is automatically notifiedwhen a compatible participant is present at a pre-designated location asdetermined from said positional information.
 17. The method according toclaim 12, wherein said compatibility criteria further includesemployment information.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein atleast one participant is further determined to be a family member basedupon compatible employment information.
 19. The method according toclaim 12, wherein notifying at least one of the compatible participantsof their compatibility includes prompting at least one compatibleparticipant.
 20. The method according to claim 12, wherein notifying atleast one of the compatible participants of their compatibility includessoliciting an auto-response indicating whether at least one compatibleparticipant wishes to meet another compatible participant during a timeboth participants are determined as available to meet.
 21. An improvedmethod for providing human participant-specific data to a humanparticipant of a conventional real-time network in which humanparticipant-specific data is only provided in response to separaterequests for the human participant-specific data of individualparticipants, the improvement comprising: collecting human participantspecific data for a plurality of network participants, wherein said stepof collecting human participant-specific data includes presenting to thehuman participant an on-line survey comprising a plurality of questions;and detecting and recording the human participant responses to thequestions; storing, in memory, the human participant specific datacollected, wherein said step of storing the collected humanparticipant-specific data includes creating at least one data tablewithin a database that includes data for a plurality of humanparticipants, and within said table storing at least one recordcontaining information indicative of the human participant responses tothe questions; processing the stored human participant specific data,using the compatibility criteria, to determine interpersonalcompatibility between at least two network participants, wherein saidstep of processing the stored human participant-specific data includesretrieving at least one compatibility criteria, wherein thecompatibility criteria includes at least one characteristic and athreshold, and applying the compatibility criteria to a plurality ofrecords containing information indicative of the human participantresponses in the data table within a database so as to determine thecompatibility of the human participants; and automatically providing atleast a portion of the processed human participant specific data to atleast one participant in association with the network, wherein theparticipant-specific data includes a chat time a first participant isavailable to chat, and prompting at least one compatible participant.22. The method according to claim 21, wherein processing includesidentifying participants that are logged into the network.
 23. Themethod according to claim 22 wherein the chat time includes a period oftime.
 24. The method according to claim 22 wherein the chat timeincludes immediately.
 25. The method according to claim 21 wherein thehuman participant specific data further includes a participant'sinteraction with the network and where prompting includes communicatingthe participant's interaction.
 26. The method according to claim 21wherein collecting data for a plurality of participants includesaccessing pre-existing data associated with at least one participant.27. The method according to claim 26, wherein the pre-existing dataincludes a relationship that the at least one participant has formedwith a participant in another network.
 28. A method for determiningcompatibility of participants of a network, based upon predeterminedcriteria, comprising: collecting human participant-specific data for aplurality of the participants wherein collecting human participantspecific data includes, accessing a database containing pre-existingdata for at least one participant, where the pre-existing data indicatesat least one relationship the at least one participant has formed withat least one other participant, and; identifying, using the pre-existingdata, participants who have formed a relationship on another network asbeing a part of at least one family group; storing, in memory, the humanparticipant-specific data collected; processing the stored humanparticipant specific data, using compatibility criteria, to determinecompatibility between at least two participants from at least twodifferent family groups, wherein processing includes collecting data,from the at least two participants, indicating an availability to meetin person, notifying at least one participant in a family group of theidentity of at least one other participant, in another family group,wherein notifying includes notifying the at least one participant of theother participant's availability to meet in person.
 29. The methodaccording to claim 28 wherein human participant-specific data includesdata indicating a participant selection of a level of proximity todetermine compatibility between network participants and data indicatingpositional information provided by at least one participant's cellularphone, and wherein notifying at least one participant of the identity ofat least one other participant is limited to the other participant beingwithin the level of proximity specified by the at least one participant.30. The method according to claim 28 wherein each of the at least twodifferent family groups include a subset of participants that share anavailability to meet in person.